After receiving a round of heavy criticism for their so-called slave contract with TVXQ (DBSK / Tohoshinki), SM is claiming they gave TVXQ 40% of the profits. Yeah, and I’m the Queen of England!
Almost no one believes that SM would give any of its artists 40% of the profits generated from the artist’s hard work.
Adding further insult to the intelligence of the millions of DBSK fans and the Japanese public, SM is reportedly claiming that for overseas promotions, Tohoshinki gets 70% of the profits while SM takes a paltry 30%.
If you believe that, I have a few acres of beautiful swamp land in Florida to sell you.
There is no way in hell SM would allow one of their prized possessions over in another country — months at a time — for only 30%.
Then there’s the question as to what Avex, the company that handles Tohoshinki in Japan, is paying Tohoshinki. Some wonder if Avex’s figures in some way conflict with that SM is saying.
Another question public observers have raised is whether or not SM is telling the truth, or trying to make TVXQ look greedy.
I wouldn’t be surprised if some netizens are wondering if SM is keeping a second set of books to make it seem like they’re paying TVXQ more than they actually are. All of these are unproven allegations at the moment.
SM is even trying to make excuses for why they made TVXQ sign a 13 year contract by saying they “secured” time for the guys to promote overseas:
“In Korea 3-4 years, in Japan 3-4 years, in China it was 3-4 years.”
The problem with that excuse is TVXQ has been working almost concurrently in all three countries since their debut almost 6 years ago. They constantly fly back and forth from Korea to Japan all the time for various activities.
In addition, TVXQ has been working for 4 years in Japan already. So does it mean their obligation is finished? No. SM can’t keep them from working in Japan under Avex as long as they are under contract there.
SM apparently released papers showing where TVXQ would have to sign each time they were getting a paycheck from SM.
The problem with that excuse is TVXQ wouldn’t have even received that amount of money if they didn’t sign for it. Also, what’s in dispute now are some unreasonable terms of the contract and their working conditions, not whether they got paid anything or not. TVXQ never said they didn’t receive any money at all.
Moreover, according to reports, TVXQ only receives about 0.4% – 1% per member for their album sales.
Fans all over the internet are dissecting SM’s claims and pulling up past articles to refute their public statements, particularly about what SM is alleging to have made in relation to what they claim to have paid TVXQ.
It’s safe to say that some fans are turning into unofficial accountants, placing figures side by side to try to make sense of what’s going on.
If SM doesn’t want to compromise because other artists may want their contracts revised, they need to understand how much they will be losing if they don’t find an acceptable solution to this problem.
Other artists could keep SM tied up in court for months or years for contract revisions and it would mean a massive loss in income for the company if they don’t choose to fix the problems themselves.
When a court has to make a company fix a problem, it almost always costs them more than if they would handle it themselves. The company should understand that 80% of something is better than 100% of nothing.
TVXQ were still underaged when they signed. So signing children to a 13 year contract should have never happened in the first place. And continuing to pay those kids (grown men now) as if they just debuted yesterday is totally ridiculous as well.
The amount of money lost while SM is fighting with one of their biggest artists will greatly outweigh whatever small revisions TVXQ were asking for before this issue went to court.
Because SM didn’t compromise, now they will have to pay with time and money in legal fees, as well as possibly having court appointed accountants going through their books.
It is better that SM takes care of their artists and put this TVXQ dispute to rest as soon as possible. Every single day TVXQ is fighting for contract revisions is another day in Korea that the group isn’t generating as much money for SM as they could be.
As this issue drags on, more and more TVXQ fans will start to ask questions about every word in the statements released from SM. The more conflicting information is revealed, the angrier the fans will get at SM because it will look like the company is lying or trying to cover-up any wrongdoing towards TVXQ.
We’ll keep you updated as more info is released.
Source Mat:
KBites
DBSKnights